Get A Grip: The Week In Sports And Sports Betting: LA, CT, More

It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three ain’t bad).

Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” recapping the week’s top stories and rounding up key stories in sports betting, gaming, and the world of sports at large. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading.

Louisiana joins 2019 sports betting graveyard

Amid intense storms, things inside the Louisiana capital were just a tumultuous up this week. After his sports betting bill got quashed for the second consecutive session, Senator Danny Martiny (R-District 10) staged a filibuster to kill a fantasy sports tax bill onto which he had tacked, yep, you guessed it, sports betting.

Martiny’s fight for sports betting in Louisiana has been contentious, heated, and at times ridiculous. According to WWL, Martiny and Representative Cameron Henry (R-District 82), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, have had an ongoing feud during which Henry exited committee meetings to avoid taking up sports betting.

Martiny, who won’t be back due to term limits, was so angry on Thursday, that he chose to filibuster and essentially kill sports betting to deny the state revenue from daily fantasy contests and make his point. The session, and Martiny’s term, ended at 6 p.m. local time.

“This is the last bill that I will ever handle in the Legislature,” Martiny told WWL. “I’m not going to go down without a fight.

“I don’t think this is the way you do business. I don’t like the way that I was treated. I would feel the same way if any of my colleagues were treated this way.”

The Legislature can try to approve fantasy sports next year only if the governor calls a special session.

Get a complete recap of what caused today's breakdown here.https://t.co/UvG17lwZNt

— The Advocate (@theadvocatebr) June 7, 2019

Voters in 47 of the state’s 64 parishes approved daily fantasy during the November election, but tax bills can only be considered in odd-numbered years, so Martiny’s filibuster means the daily fantasy tax can’t be considered again until 2021. The bill set the tax rate at 15.5 percent.

Connecticut lets sports betting die, too

The Connecticut state legislature failed for the second consecutive session to legalize sports betting when both sports betting and marijuana initiatives died in the waning hours Wednesday night. Lawmakers have been trying to negotiate a deal with local tribes to legalize sports betting for two years.

According to the NBC Connecticut, talks between Governor Ned Lamont’s office and the tribe collapsed, but discussions were then opened with the city of Bridgeport, which is considering a casino.

“As it’s written I think it’s difficult to cobble the votes together,” Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz (D-District 30), told NBC. “Having the tribes and Bridgeport on the same page is very important. They hadn’t gotten there until now. So, if this is the starting point. I think it’s a good starting point.”

This legislature, and now @GovNedLamont proves incompetence time and time again. Immediate revenue streams such as a casino, sports betting, marijuana can never be on the table. But new taxes and spending are. None of them care about people in Connecticut.

— Mike Lombard Sr. (@LombardTrucking) June 5, 2019

But hours later, the governor’s office quashed any hope of a deal, saying that a Bridgeport-tribal deal could open the state up to litigation.

Connecticut had been looking to be a first mover on sports betting, but as time wears on, state lawmakers continue to squabble and have made little progress toward legalizing. The only New England state with legal sports betting is Rhode Island. New Hampshire appears poised to send a bill to its governor for signature and Massachusetts lawmakers have been seriously considering the issue, but appear to be taking a slow approach to a decision.